She's Got A Way About Her
by scribblesofdreams
Summary: A case from 1988 is reopened. It follows a 17-year-old girl who was strangled to death three months after moving to a new town.
1. Shake Things Up

**Author's note**

This is my first Cold Case fanfic that I've written, and I tried my best to focus on the case and the flashbacks about the characters. The story takes place in the late 80's, revolving around a girl that walks to the beat of her own drum. I'd really appreciate some feedback and thoughts about the story. Enjoy!

-scribblesofdreams

* * *

_September 14, 1988_

_(Music: "Who's That Girl" - Madonna)_

_The lunch room was crowded with kids from every grade. One side of the cafeteria was split between the underclassmen students. The freshmen sat along the walls, occupying a few tables the upperclassmen granted them to sit at. Sophomores and juniors mingled with each other freely, with the occasional cocky junior stepping over to the freshman tables to intimidate and humiliate the lucky few that day. _

_On the other half of the cafeteria sat the seniors, the unwritten rulers of East Creek High School. The entire senior class had half the cafeteria to themselves, and everyone understood that none of the underclassmen crossed onto their territory. Although each class was separated and divided among themselves, they were all very much alike: they dressed the same, listened to the same music, shopped at the same stores, and did the same things as everyone else. They were all mindless followers and no one went against the crowd. _

_A few minutes after the lunch period began, in walked what seemed like a monster, by the way all the students looked at her. The world seemed to stop as all eyes were drawn to the catastrophe strutting toward the center of the cafeteria, the room was silent. She found an open seat on one of the seniors' tables and sat down, pulling out a notebook and pencil from her bag. _

_A blond cheerleader, sitting several tables over from the girl everyone was transfixed on, stared at the girl. "What the hell is that supposed to be?" she asked out loud._

"_That's the new girl, a senior." A small red-headed girl sitting next to the blond leaned over. "I saw her this morning. I almost threw up."_

"_I think I just did," a muscular boy, wearing a letterman jacket joked, making the other seniors sitting around him burst into laughter. _

_The girl opened her notebook and flipped to a blank page. She lifted her head up and looked around the room, only to find every pair of eyes staring at her. A few beats passed before she picked up her pencil and began drawing on the empty page._

_Moments later, life returned to the students in the cafeteria and the noise picked up again. The few seniors that were sharing the table with the new girl gathered their things and left. The girl briefly lifted her eyes to see them walk away, then went back to focus on her sketch. _

_Huddled in the middle of a group of seniors was both the jock and cheerleader that offered their commentary minutes before. The blond girl stood up, smoothed out her cheerleader's uniform and started to walk over to the new girl, with the brown haired jock following close behind. _

"_Shelly! Vance!" A boy that was sitting at the same table as the two sat up in his chair and called out to them. "What are they gonna do?" he asked out loud, not expecting an answer. He figured he'd get the answer in a few moments. _

_The blond hair flowing down Shelly's back bounced as she walked. With a flip of her hair and a smile, she looked down to the girl. "Hi there."_

_The girl slowly looked up from her notebook. "Hi."_

"_I'm Shelly Linderman. And on behalf of the senior class, I just wanted to welcome you to East Creek High," she said, a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "I know being the new student can be difficult, especially when you're so...different, from everyone else."_

_Picking up on the blond's attitude, the girl sitting down decided to play along with the game. "Different? Different from who?" she asked, as if she truly didn't know. _

_Vance strutted up behind Shelly, his hands shoved in his jacket's pockets, and stared down at the girl. "From all of us," he said. _

_A blank stare formed across the girls' face, irritating the jock. _

"_You don't dress like us," he told her. _

_Gasping, the girl dropped her jaw. "Really?" she asked curiously. She stood up and began inspecting her clothes. _

_She wore green Chuck Taylors and ripped blue jeans. She sported an Aerosmith 1986 tour t-shirt that was cut at the neckline over a red tank top. Hanging around her hips was a thick green belt. Colorful rubber bracelets lined her left arm, with a white and purple beaded bracelet closest to her fingers. On the other arm she wore a thick black bracelet with blue polka dots and a large jeweled ring on her finger. Draped around her neck were three colorful beaded necklaces. Large circular yellow earrings hung from her ears, and her hair was gathered into a ponytail to the right side of her head, with bangs swept across the right side of her forehead. Her skin was the color mocha, making her stand out more so, in addition to the clothes she wore._

"_I thought this was what all the kids were wearing," she joked, grinning at the welcoming committee still standing in front of her._

_Vance glared at her. "Well you were wrong."_

"_Look." Shelly clasped her hands together and put on a fake smile. "I know you're new and you don't really know what it's like here at East Creek. So I'm just letting you know that if you wanna fit in at this school, you're gonna have to change the way you dress."_

"_And probably the music I listen to," she said, stroking her chin. "Because I doubt I listen to the same bands that preps listen to."_

_Shelly and Vance exchanged looks, both getting a sense that they were now being the ones made fun of. Shelly scoffed. "Preps?"_

"_And I'd probably have to start shopping at places like The Gap. And caking my face with makeup, too, right?" she asked. "Just to fit in with you guys."_

_Frustrated and annoyed, Shelly crossed her arms across her chest. _

"_You know what? I don't really feel up to it," she said, shaking her head. "I think I'll just stick to being different." She sat back down in her seat._

_A wave of laughter came from behind them. Shelly looked back to see her friends laughing at her defeat by the new girl. _

"_Sorry," the girl continued. "But thanks for the offer," she said, smiling. _

_Shelly stared at the girl for several moments, narrowing her eyes as each second passed. Leaning over, she put her hands on the table. "You'll be sorry you did this," she warned. The girl continued to smile at Shelly until Shelly abruptly turned around and walked back to her table. _

_Vance laughed and shook his head. "Freak," he said, then turned and walked back to his friends. _

_She watched them go back to their table, their friends slowly quieting down their laughter. She chuckled once to herself then went back to her drawing. _

* * *

_December 6, 1988_

_Near the banks of the creek lay a motionless body, female. The girl was dressed in a denim jacket over a light blue shirt, along with a black skirt and black cut leggings that were stained with dirt and grass. The wind blew, brushing her black hair off her face, exposing her lifeless face._

* * *

_A middle-aged man held a photo of the body by the creek. Red bruises lined the neck of the girl in the picture. He slipped the photo into a file and placed the file in a cardboard box, pushing it onto the metal shelf. With a heavy sigh, he dismounted the step ladder and walked down the aisle. _

* * *

July, 2008

Leaning against the table in a briefing room, Lieutenant John Stillman just finished overlooking the case files of a 1988 murder. He crossed his hands across his chest and stared aimlessly at his feet. He could hear someone handling papers on the table but all the sounds were muffled. It had been a long weekend only to have a homicide case waiting for him first thing on Monday morning.

Will Jeffries, senior agent, saw the rest of their team heading towards the briefing room. He gathered a few papers together and stood up. Noticing that Stillman was frozen at the edge of the table, he took a few steps in Stillman's direction.

"Boss?" Jeffries called, rounding the table and stepping in front of Stillman. "Boss?"

Stillman snapped back into reality and caught his breath. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here." He stood up and turned around just in time to see his team walk into the room.

Leading the herd was Agent Lilly Rush, carrying a cup of coffee in her left hand. Her blond hair was tied tightly into a ponytail, her bangs barely touching her eyelashes. Right behind Lilly walked in Kat Miller, both hands in her pants pockets. She exhaled deeply, preparing herself for another day's work. Following close behind were Agents Scotty Valens and Nick Vera, both looking very unenthusiastic to start the morning off with a murder case.

"Hey, boss," Rush smiled, placing her cup of coffee on the table and removing her jacket. She draped it on the back of one of the chairs as the rest of the crew got settled. "Have a good weekend?"

Stillman sighed heavily. "Define 'good'," he replied.

Rush winced, pulling her chair out and taking her seat. "Sorry, boss," she said, offering him a comforting smile.

"So what've we got today?" Valens asked, sitting down in a chair. Uncontrollably he yawned, flashing his entire team with the insides of his mouth. "Sorry," he apologized, only covering his mouth with his hand after the fact.

Miller shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Obviously manners isn't one of your strong points," she muttered.

"Young female, seventeen years old," Jeffries announced before Valens could shoot a comment back to Miller. He walked around handing out copies of the case file to everyone in the room.

"Grace Serano," Stillman said, sliding a photo of the girl onto the table. "High school senior, attended East Creek High School."

The photograph was of Grace's senior portrait. She dressed in bright colors and layers of clothing. Her smile was soft and pleasant.

Vera nodded, recalling the familiarity of the name of the school. "That's over by Croydon."

"You know that place?" Jeffries asked, handing out the rest of the files to Rush and Miller.

"I used to have a friend that lived over there," he explained. "I'd go over to his house a couple times a month. Nice neighborhood."

Miller held the file in her hands. Quickly, she glanced over the first page of the file, picking up on key phrases and bits of information. "Cause of death?" she asked.

"Well, it says here she died of asphyxiation," Stillman replied, reading off the case file. "There were marks all over her neck." He gestured towards a stack of photographs of Grace's body the police took.

Rush put down her file and took to the photographs. She displayed each in a straight line on the table for the whole team to see. Overlooking the photos she saw the marks on Grace's neck. "She was hanged?"

Miller picked up a photo and shook her head, her black curls swinging back and forth. "No, those aren't rope burns. Or from a wire. More like she was strangled."

Flipping through the pages of the file, Vera looked across the room to the other detectives. "What, no fingerprints were lifted?" he asked, confused. "Unless this person strangled her with their mind," he joked.

Jeffries shook his head. "No, the killer must've been wearing something over his hands. Gloves, maybe?"

Just getting a look at the pictures of Grace's body, Vera began to chuckle. The team looked at him as his laughter continued. Feeling the stares of his team, Vera looked up to meet all of their eyes.

"I was just looking at what she was wearing," he explained. "She was very...bold with her clothing choice." He glanced back down at the photos and grunted, amused.

Miller shook her head and lifted the side of her mouth into a smile. "Well, it was the 80's, remember?"

"Oh man, do I remember," Valens smiled. He thought back to his youth and laughed. "I remember how badly I wanted those parachute pants."

"I was obsessed with that damn rubix cube," Vera admitted, receiving several looks and laughs. "What? That thing was hard to solve," he said defensively.

Stillman couldn't help but smile and joke along with the rest of them, but he quickly regained his composure. "All right, all right. Let's get back to the case." The team returned their focus on the papers and photos in front of them. "Grace just moved to Croydon three months before she was murdered," he told them.

Rush scoffed. "Being murdered a few months after you move to a new town. A very welcoming gesture," she said, shaking her head and sipping her cup of coffee.

"Says here she lived with her mom and brother, Anita and Josh," Jeffries read. "Want us to call them in?" he asked, looking across the table at Stillman.

He nodded. "Yeah, we better talk to them first. Bring them down here as soon as you can."


	2. You've Got A Friend

A short, Mexican woman in her early sixties sat in a small conference room. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, wild waves extended down her back. She looked around the room, curious and nervous. Slowly her breathing increased. To her side sat her son, dressed in a shirt and tie with slacks. He clutched his mother's hand and watched her closely.

The door opened and in walked Miller and Stillman, each giving the family members a small smile and nod.

"Ms. Serano," Miller said, "I'm Detective Miller, this is Lieutenant Stillman." Miller turned to Stillman who was standing behind her.

"Nice to meet you two, this is my son, Josh. And call me Anita," she said with a Mexican accent. She tried to smile, but knowing she was there on account of her daughters' death made it hard to let the smile show.

"We were wondering if we could talk to you about Grace," Miller said, sitting down on the opposite side of the table while Stillman remained standing.

Josh looked up at the detectives. "Why?" he asked. "I thought the case was closed. There wasn't anything else to do about it." He didn't have the same accent as his mother did, but spoke more with a common American man's accent.

"We just want to make sure that all the information is correct," Miller informed him.

Josh looked to his mother, waiting for her answer. After a few beats she nodded her head. Josh turned back to the detectives and nodded to go ahead with the questions.

"We understand that you and your family moved to Philadelphia a few months before Grace died, is that correct?" Stillman asked.

Anita nodded. "Yes, we moved right before the school year started. Josh had just gotten accepted to the Winston School for Music. We had been waiting years for him to get accepted," she said, smiling at her son.

Josh smiled back then turned to look at Stillman. "I play the piano. I always have. And I wanted to go to Winston real bad. I finally got accepted so we packed everything up in California and moved here," he told them. "I was about to be a sophomore, Grace was a senior."

"And Grace went to the local public school." Miller looked to Josh, resting her arms on the table.

Josh nodded, looking at both detectives. "Yeah, East Creek High."

"Did she have any problems at that school? A hard time with the transition? Grades, maybe?" Miller suggested. She tried not to sound insulting.

"No," Anita said, shaking her head. "Nothing like that. Grace was a great student. Her teachers even put her in the average classes to make sure she wouldn't struggle, but she could've easily taken the advanced courses," she said, speaking like a proud mother. "That wasn't what the problem was."

Uncertain of her remark, Stillman glanced over to Anita. "What _was_ her problem?" He took a step closer to the table.

Josh sighed, as if he was trying to avoid bringing it up. "The kids at her school, her classmates," he told them. "They didn't make it easy for her. They played up the new kid card a lot with Grace."

"They picked on her?" Miller asked casually.

"That's putting it lightly. They said and did things to try and bring her down." He began shaking his head, then a small smile crept across his face. "But she never let them."

Anita's eyes glowed, she smiled. "She was a strong girl, never letting others influence her."

Miller leaned back in her seat. After pondering, she leaned forward and put her hands on the table. "So she would come home and tell you about how she was teased?" To her knowledge, she didn't know of many teenagers who would tell their family about problems they were having at school.

Josh thought for a moment then shook his head. "No, she would only tell me, not mom," he told them, looking over at his mom. She stared back at him. "Grace didn't like our mom knowing what she went through at school, at least not all of it. She didn't tell our mom everything. She didn't want our mom to worry about her. She could handle it, is what she told me."

"So Grace went to you about this? About the things that were going on at school?" Stillman asked, gesturing to the man on the other side of the table.

He nodded. "Yeah. She talked to me about everything. She told me about the things they said and how they all thought she was a freak for being so different." He paused, remember something. "Well, not all of them."

* * *

_(Music: "Something About You" - Level 42)_

_Grace sat at a green picnic table near the banks of the creek. She had found a small clearing with a table overlooking the creek a few days before while she was exploring the town. It seemed a bit random, to have a table in the middle of nowhere, but it was quiet and peaceful, away from the expectations of her classmates at school. She was hunched over her notebook, working on a new sketch. _

_Quiet footsteps made its way near the picnic table. The crunch of the grass beneath the shoes were discreet, but loud enough for Grace to know someone was approaching her. She gripped her pencil in a fist, tensing up at the sound of the person approaching. _

"_Hi," a quiet, but strong voice said. _

_Out of the corner of her eyes she saw shoes to the side of the table, a few feet from where she sat. Grace looked up to see a familiar face. It was one of the boys she had seen on her first day at school in the lunch room. He had strawberry blond hair, it was short, but slightly feathered. His jawline was distinct and his green eyes drew all of Grace's attention. He stared down at her, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his letterman jacket._

"_Hi," she replied. _

_He stood there and looked at her. Once the silence had gotten too awkward for him, he cleared his throat. "You mind if I sit?" he asked._

_Grace shrugged. "Help yourself." She watched him take a few steps towards the table. He stretched his leg over the seat, sat himself down, then swung his other leg around under the table. _

_Trying to avoid another awkward silence, the boy took in a deep breath, preparing himself to spark up a conversation. _

"_So, you're the new girl, right?" _

_Grace grinned to herself. "That is what the kids at school are calling me. Funny, I've never seen that written on any of my important documents," she joked. The boy across the table began to smile, catching onto her joke. "But I guess it's descriptive enough. Although it's not original, I suppose it does have a certain ring to it." She smiled. _

"_Sorry," he apologized, reaching his hand up to rub the back of his neck, embarrassed for saying that to her. "I'm Andy, by the way," he mentioned. _

_She nodded. "Well, hi, Andy." They exchanged looks for a moment, just before Grace propped her arm up on the table and leaned on her left palm. "So, what can I do for you, Andy?" she asked. _

_He shrugged. "I guess I just wanted to talk to you," Andy replied. _

_Not entirely sure if he was telling the truth, Grace began zeroing in on him. She looked his face over in an attempt to see if he was serious or not. She stared into his eyes. "Really? Is that all?" she asked suspiciously. _

"_Yeah," he answered, a bit unsure of the change in her tone. "Why, what are you thinking?"_

"_Oh, I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders then clasped her hands together on the table. "Maybe your friends sent you here to interview the new girl. Find out a little more about me, not just what they can see on the surface." Grace gestured to her clothes, making it clear as to what she was getting at. _

_Andy picked up on her hints and smiled weakly, embarrassed, yet again. "No, that's not why I'm here. And I'm sorry, about all of that."_

_Grace shrugged her shoulders. "About what?"_

"_You know, about all the things they were saying. Vance and Shelly mostly. They shouldn't have said any of it," he told her. _

"_But you don't have to apologize." She looked back into his green eyes. "You didn't do anything."_

_Andy reached up and ran his hand through his hair. He let out a deep sigh. "Yeah, I know. But they're my friends, so I feel partially responsible for them," he explained. _

"_Well don't," she said firmly. "Why do you hang out with them anyway?" she asked. She watched as he opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out. "I mean, you obviously don't like some of the stuff they do, if you're apologizing for them. But you're still friends with them?"_

_Andy looked down at his hands and thought of his words carefully. This wasn't a question that he hadn't asked himself before, but for all those times he asked himself, he never came up with an answer that he liked. _

"_I guess it's just hard to break away from them. It's difficult to get away and do your own thing," he finally admitted. _

_Grace chuckled, then looked up at Andy. "Really? Because I think I'm making it look kinda easy, don't you?"_

_They shared a laugh, both understanding the humor of the whole situation. It was clear to Grace that Andy wasn't like the other students at school. He sought her out for a reason. Not to ridicule her, but to actually talk to her._

"_But I can understand," Grace said, once the laughter died down, "how it can be hard to go against your peers. It's hard for a lot of kids, that's why they don't do it."_

_Andy glanced over at Grace. "Is it hard for you?" _

_Smiling, she shook her head. "Nope. It's actually really easy." She spoke with ease in her voice, no answer was forced or made up._

"_How?" he asked, unable to understand her response. "How do you not let what they say get to you?" Andy sat there, waiting for an answer that would make sense to him._

_So many responses were floating around in Grace's mind. She had dozens of options to choose from, but decided to go with the simplest and the best explanation. "I just don't."_

_Andy looked at her, processing those three simple words, trying to make sense of them. As he did so, Grace closed her notebook and stuffed it into her bag. _

"_Well, I better get going," she said and got up from the table. Grace maneuvered her legs out from under the picnic table and slung her bag onto her shoulder._

"_Do you want a ride?" Andy offered, looking up at her. "My car's just parked up there on the street." He pointed up to the road with his right hand while simultaneously looking at Grace._

_Grace looked towards the road and back to Andy. She shook her head. "No, that's okay. I like walking."_

"_Oh," he said, a bit disappointed. "All right."_

_Slowly, Grace began walking away towards the road. Suddenly, just a couple steps away from the table, she turned around and looked at Andy. He lifted his head back up when the sound of her footsteps fell silent. _

"_My name's Grace, by the way," she told him, the left side of her lips curled into a half smile. _

_Caught off guard, but satisfied, Andy smiled back. "Grace." The sound of her name seemed natural to his ears. "I guess I'll see you around?"_

_Grace shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe, if you're lucky." She gave him a wink, a small smile, then turned and headed towards the faint sound of traffic._

_Andy sat at the table, watching her disappear down the path towards the street. He whispered her name once more to himself, "Grace." He let out a deep breath just as a smile appeared on his face._

* * *

"At least there was one person that didn't judge Grace like the other kids did," Josh told them. His eyes were dark brown, staring down at the table top. Josh reached over to take his mother's hand in his and gave it a small squeeze.

Anita nodded. "She at least had one friend."

Stillman took a step towards the table. "This boy, Andy. He have a last name?" he asked.

Josh looked up at the ceiling, doing the best he could to remember. "Walker," he looked back down to the detectives. "I think that was his last name. Yeah, Andy Walker." He nodded his head, confident that his memory had served him well.

Once they had escorted Anita and Josh out of the office, Stillman and Miller walked back towards their office. Miller looked over the few notes she took from the interview.

"Looks like the outcast had at least one friend," Miller said. "I'll track this Andy Walker down and get back to you."

"All right," Stillman agreed, then stepped into his office.

Miller returned to her desk, flipping through the three pages of notes she had jotted down in her notebook. The other detectives were studying up on the case when she walked back to desk.

"So Kat, how'd it go?" Vera asked, dropping a handful of papers he was holding in his hand. He got up and walked over to where Miller was seated.

She nodded, tossing the notebook onto her desk. "It was okay. They seem pretty nice," she answered. "They told us that Grace was the outcast in her high school. She dressed differently from the rest of the kids, and they all teased her for it."

"I hate high school," Valens remarked, somewhat bitterly. He was slouched in his chair, his feet up on his desk. "Four years of pure torture."

Rush snickered at Valens, shaking her head in disbelief. "Why did _you_ hate it? Scotty, you were probably one of those popular kids in school, weren't you?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Well, yeah," he admitted casually.

"Then why would you say that high school was pure torture?" Jeffries asked, joining into the conversation.

Valens dropped his feat to the floor and stood up. "I didn't say it was torture for me, but for the other kids." Everyone rolled their eyes, about ready to tune Valens out. "But lookin' back on it, it sucked. For all of us. When you're in high school, it seems like your life is gonna be defined by the type of person people thought you were. But then once you get outta high school, none of that crap matters. And then you regret the things you did or didn't do while you were there."

For once, Valens had made perfect sense about a realistic issue that the rest of the team understood. They all looked at him, wide eyed and shocked.

"Wow," Vera said. "Those are some wise words."

Valens grinned, straightening his tie. "I have my days."

"Hey, Will," Miller said, leaning forward in her chair. "You know what's been up with the boss?" she asked, nodding her head towards Stillman's office. "He's been having some rough days lately."

Rush and Valens walked over to the rest of the team, joining their small huddle.

"Yeah man, you know what's buggin' him?" Vera asked.

Jeffries looked over her shoulder. He could see Stillman at work in his office, diligently reading through all the paperwork from Grace's case. He turned back around to face his team. "I honestly don't know," he sighed.

"Oh, come on," Miller said, slapping Jeffries arm. "You're the senior agent. You're practically Stillman himself," she teased. "You really don't know anything?"

"All I know is that he's been having trouble sleeping, that's all he's told me," Jeffries replied. "But I hope whatever he's going through gets better. Because this team won't succeed unless he's working full speed with us." Jeffries glanced back to Stillman with hopeful thoughts.


	3. Try Something New

**Author's note**

Thank you to everyone who has read my first couple chapters to my story. Hopefully I'll be able to post the upcoming chapters quickly so that you can all read it. Enjoy the story, and let me know what you think.

-scribblesofdreams

* * *

Vera and Rush drove to the north part of Croydon to a music store, Electric Music. The windows of the store were lined with album covers from the 1940's to the 2000's from the inside. It covered swing, jazz, Motown, rock, disco, pop, rap, hip hop, alternative, and every other genre in between.

Vera looked up and scanned the album covers, standing a few feet from the window. He recognized several albums he once owned and smiled. "Looks like the warehouse of music or somethin'," said.

Rush opened the door, with Vera close behind. The store had rows of CD's lining the floor, with shelves covering the walls with more music. Magazine stands were displayed near the entrance, attracting a small group of teenagers skimming through _Guitar Magazine_. Vera noticed a small table with trays of cassette tapes off to the side of the cash register. At the back of the store, there was a section of vinyl records, one of the largest collections Vera had seen in years.

Rush nudged Vera's arm and nodded toward the tall blond talking to a young boy near the classic rock section. "There's Walker."

Rush and Vera walked up behind the young boy. Rush overheard Andy describing the song "Baba O'Riley" from The Who's _Who's Next_ album.

"Andy Walker," Rush interrupted, causing the young boy to turn around and look at her. She took out her badge and flipped it open. "Philly P.D. Can we talk to you for a moment?"

Andy looked at Rush, then to Vera. "I think you'll really like this album," he told the boy, looking back down to him.

The young boy nodded and took the CD from Andy's hand. "Thanks, I think I'll get it," he announced, then walked towards the cash register.

Andy watched the boy walk away and smiled. "I love that younger kids are listening to some classic music," he said, chuckling to himself.

Vera looked at Rush then turned to Andy. "I'm Detective Vera, this is Detective Rush. We'd like to talk to you about Grace Serano."

The expression on Andy's face changed at the sound of her name. His bright and glowing face turned into one of pain and hurt. His smile faded slowly as he began to nod his head. "All right." He called to the girl standing behind the cash register to take over the store, then led the two detectives to a room in the back of the store.

In the middle of the room was a table with a few magazines sprawled out across the top. Andy gathered the magazines into a stack and gestured to the chairs. "Please, have a seat," he told them.

Rush and Vera pulled the chairs out and sat down across from Andy. Looking up, Rush watched Andy sit in his chair, letting out a deep breath.

"We understand that you were friends with Grace Serano," Vera said, opening his small notebook. "The only friend she made at East Creek High School."

Andy nodded solemnly. "The kids at school all made fun of her because she was different. It was some kind of sin to go against the crowd in those days."

"But not you," Rush looked at Andy, shaking her head. "You didn't make fun of her. You were actually nice to her."

"It didn't take much to be nice to Grace," he explained. "Everyone was just afraid of her, so they teased her, as if something was wrong with her. But nothing was wrong."

Rush jerked her body forward and leaned against the table, clasping her hands together. "You two hang out a lot?" she asked, looking through her bangs at Andy.

He nodded. "Yeah, we did. Not at first though. I still wasn't sure if I wanted to hang out with her or not."

"Because she was weird," Vera said, staring at Andy. "So you were trying to decide whether or not you wanted to call her to go get some lunch, or call her a freak."

"No." Andy turned his head toward Vera in one sharp movement. "No, I never called her names. Never," he protested. His eyes were soft, with pure sincerity in them. "But I used to hang out with the kids that did. That didn't last too long though. Grace made me realize a lot about myself and the person I wanted to be."

"So, she showed you your _true colors_, so to speak?" Vera asked, grinning at his clever 80's music reference.

Andy picked up on the Cyndi Lauper reference and smiled. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He laughed softly, then looked up to the detectives. "Grace was the only person I knew that was truly herself. She taught me a lot."

* * *

_(Music: "What I Like About You" - The Clash)_

_Grace and Andy walked along an empty street in north Croydon. With the sun shinning bright that day, it reflected off of Grace's large, metal earrings. That day she wore a flared skirt that occasionally blew whenever there was a gust of wind. _

_Grace was laughing at the joke Andy had just made about the physics teacher at school. She was hunched over, grabbing her stomach as her laugh echoed down the street. _

"_Okay, okay," Andy said, calming his laughter down. He took in a deep breath and turned to Grace."So where exactly are we going?"_

_Grace wiped the tears from her eyes. She was replaying the joke in her mind as they continued to walk down the street, but eventually pulled herself together. "I found this cool music store that I think you should check out," she told him. "I'm not sure if you'd listen to the music, but if you don't, you totally should."_

_Andy nodded his head and stuck his hands into his jeans pockets. "Cool."_

_Grace walked lightly in her dark purple, two inch heels. She had just started wearing heels a few months back, but quickly got the hang of the technique to strutting in those shoes. Andy shuffled along after Grace in his one year old pair of Nike's he got for his last birthday. After passing a few shops, Grace stopped abruptly on the sidewalk. Her entire body came to a halt unexpectedly. _

"_Geez," Andy said, laughing. He almost ran into Grace but caught himself before the impact would have occurred. "Next time put your brake lights on," he joked._

"_Here we are," Grace said, smiling up at the sign at the top of the store. She lifted her hand and pointed to the top of the building. "Check it out."_

_Andy followed with his eyes and gazed across the store sign. "Electric Music," he read aloud. "Nice name."_

_Grace smiled. "Wait until you see what's inside." She nodded her head toward the door. "Come on." She walked into the store, with Andy following her. _

_The door closed loudly, rattling the sign hanging on the door that read the store hours. The store was small but cozy. There were several rows of vinyl records placed in the middle of the room. Each section was labeled with a sign that was placed at the beginning of the section. Posters of bands and artists were covering the walls, with barely any free space to be seen. _

_Several teenagers stood in between the aisles perusing the albums. Two had Mohawks, one pink and the other green. They both wore the same leather jacket, with a large skull on the back. A boy that looked about fourteen held a Poison album in his hand. A group of kids were huddled near the Queen albums, several of them singing the lines to "I Want It All."_

"_Pretty awesome, huh?" Grace asked, walking further into the store. A smile made itself temporarily permanent as she began shifting through the albums. _

_Andy looked around the store, amazed. He had never been in such a place before. There was no order to it and it seemed so free. At the time, there was something he liked about it but he just couldn't put his finger on it._

_Walking over to Grace, he saw her holding a record in her hand. "What ya got there?" he asked. Andy leaned against a crate of albums, his arm resting on the top of the crate._

"_Check it out," she said happily. "Van Halen." She showed Andy the record. "Ever listened to them before?" she asked. _

_Andy thought for a moment and shrugged his shoulders. "Probably once or twice on the radio. I doubt I even knew it was them. I don't really listen to their music," he told her. _

_Grace gasped, giving Andy her offended look. Luckily, her face quickly changed back and she was smiling again."There's a song on this album, 'Right Now'. It's one of my favorites." Andy took the album from her hand and looked over the album cover. "The chorus goes, 'Right now, it's your tomorrow. Right now, come on, it's your everything. Right now, catch your magic moment. Do it right here and now, it means everything.'. It talks about living in the moment and doing your own thing."_

_Andy smiled, nodding his head as he listened to Grace recite the lyrics. "I like that message," he said, looking up at Grace. "It makes a lot of sense."_

_Grace nodded. "Sure does," she smiled, then sauntered off to look at more records. _

* * *

_(Music: "Two Steps Behind" - Def Leppard)_

_After Grace bought a Styx album, she and Andy left Electric Music and walked down the street in the same direction they came from. Grace wore a smile on her face, satisfied with the new album she just bought. Andy smiled, because seeing how happy Grace was made him feel the same way. _

"_So you listen to all of that music?" he asked her. Grace had browsed every inch of the music store, finding album after album that she was interested in. _

_She nodded. "Yep, sure do. I love that music. But I also listen to stuff other than rock. Rock's just my favorite. I listen to new wave, some disco, oldies, a bunch of everything," she explained. _

"_You like all of that music?" Andy looked over at Grace, surprised that she listened to so many different types of music. "I mean, _all_ of it?"_

"_Yeah, why not?" she asked him, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, there isn't some kind of rule that says I'm only allowed to like a certain kind of music, and other things related to that. I can like as many things as I want, so I do."_

"_Okay, I guess I see where you're coming from," he agreed. "You know you make a lot of sense, Grace Serano. You should teach."_

_She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Nah, teaching seems way too intense for me."_

"_Oh, come on," he said, "you'd be great. You really connect with people. I'm sure you could get into those kid's heads and figure them out. You could find out what they really want out of school and really educate them," Andy told her. _

_Grace looked over at Andy, completely skeptical. "Really? And what subject would I teach?"_

_Andy stroked his chin, contemplating the perfect subject that she could teach. A grin formed on his face as he turned to Grace. "I think you could definitely start a fashion designing class," he teased. _

"_Here we go," Grace rolled her eyes, throwing up her hands. _

_He laughed. "I mean, you've definitely got your own style going on," he gestured to her ensemble. "You're creativity is definitely solid."_

_Grace twirled around, her skirt puffing up as she spun. "I definitely do have my own style," she agreed. "But it's not exactly the norm around here."_

_Andy pressed his lips together, nodding. "Yeah, I guess. But that's only because there isn't anyone else as cool as you are," he smiled. _

_As they crossed the street, a group of preteens passed them, staring blatantly at Grace and the clothes that she was wearing. Two girls were laughing, covering their mouths so that no sound would get out. Two boys that dressed a lot like Andy were staring, stretching their necks to turn back around even as they passed Grace. The last boy, however, didn't even want to get a glimpse of the catastrophe of rebellion that was Grace. _

_The reactions of the kids on the street didn't seem to phase Grace that much. She glanced over when she saw their stares, but quickly focused her eyes on the street ahead of her, dismissing their behavior. Andy on the other hand couldn't have been more appalled by the way the teens acted toward Grace. As the five kids passed he felt his face heat up, his eyes narrowing in on them. Grace wasn't a circus attraction. She was a regular teenager like anyone else. Andy just didn't understand why he was the only one that could see this. _

"_Unbelievable," Andy muttered, gritting his teeth. _

_Grace looked up at him and saw how tense his face was. "Hey. Don't even worry about it. I'm not," she told him. _

"_Yeah, but you don't deserve to be stared at that way," he said. "You don't." His voice was strong, slightly louder than it usually was. _

_She shrugged her shoulder, breathing in deep. "They're kids. Hell, we're kids," she joked. "No one knows any better at our age. Most teenagers are just looking for their place in this world and where they fit in, and with who."_

"_But not you."_

_Grace glanced down the street. There were people walking about, hushed conversations in the distance, cars zipping down the road. The air was fresh and the sky was a soothing shade of blue. She took in another deep breath. "You know what the one thing is that teenagers want more than anything?" she asked him. Andy shook his head, waiting for her to answer. Grace looked up at Andy. "Acceptance."_

_Andy looked out at the road in front of him, repeating the word "acceptance" in his head several times. _

"_Wanting to be accepted by your classmates overtakes so many kids. Some people need to feel like they fit in with the popular kids and they'd do anything for it. Change the way they dress, shop at the right stores, only watch certain movies," Grace explained, "talk a certain way. That's just how kids are. I mean, yeah, okay, if you really do like those things and want to dress that way, then that's rad. But if you're only doing it to fit in...then I really don't see a point in it."_

_Andy listened to every single word Grace said. He understood what she meant and it made complete sense to him. He smiled, looking down at Grace. "Man, I sure do admire you," he told her. "You can do anything you want and like all kinds of things. And you don't care what anyone else thinks."_

_Grace nudged Andy's arm, making him stumble as he walked. "And so can you!"_

_Catching his step, Andy laughed. "No, it's not as easy as you think it is." He felt his smile fade as he stared at the pavement. He thought of his friends and the standards and expectations they had for him. _

_She noticed the change in Andy's posture and looked over at him. "Hey," she began, trying to get him to look at her. "Hey." Grace stopped walking, making Andy turn to her. "You know it doesn't matter to me, you know? I mean, I like you the way you are. You don't have to change. You just have to do what you feel you wanna do."_

_Suddenly, a sly grin appeared on Andy's face. He looked at Grace. "Wait, did you just say that you like me?"_

_Grace stared up at Andy, pondering what her response should be. She knew what Andy was waiting to hear, the look on his face showed it. He was curious, and hopeful at the same time. Deciding that enough time had passed, Grace gave Andy her answer. _

_She simply gave him a smile and a wink of her eye. Breaking into a quiet laughter, Grace began walking down the street, leaving Andy behind with the image of her smiling face in his mind._

* * *

Smiling, Andy pictured Grace's face that day after they left the music store. She was being playful, and very honest, like she always was.

"So Grace liked you?" Vera asked. Rush looked over at him as if the answer to that question was very obvious. Vera looked back at Rush and shrugged his shoulders, figuring it was still worth asking Andy.

Andy laughed lightly. "Yes, she did. And I liked her too," he admitted. "Whenever we spoke she always was truthful about everything she said. She made sense to me. The next day I went back to the music store and bought that Van Halen album," he beamed.

Rush smiled. "Yeah, and then you came back and bought the whole store," she said, gesturing to the room around her.

"Yeah, I did," Andy nodded. "I've owned this place for about ten years. It's been real good to me," he told them, glancing around the room. "I went home and listened to that record," he said, continuing the previous story. "Grace was right, I loved that song. I loved it so much that a few years ago I started my own record company, Right Now Records," he smiled. "But then Shelly stopped by that same day I first listened to the album. And she shared her opinion about what she thought of it." Andy shook his head, with an annoyed expression.

"Shelly?" Vera repeated. He checked his notes, then shook his head. He didn't have a Shelly written down.

"Yeah, Shelly Linderman," Andy said, watching Vera scribble down the name in his notebook. "She was the Queen Bee at school. She always thought we were dating, too. But I was never interested in her. And when Grace came to school she was even more pissed off."

Rush brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "She was mad at you for spending time with Grace?" she asked.

He sighed. "That, and the fact that she, along with the rest of my friends, felt like I changed. I wasn't hanging out with them that much, and they could tell my interests were changing."

"What did Shelly do when she found you listening to that Van Halen album?" Rush asked. "She must've been mad, since that wasn't the kind of thing that popular kids at school were listening to."

"No, it wasn't," Andy agreed. "She was confused, then she got mad. Shelly started yelling at me about how I was changing into a freak just like Grace. She was just jealous; that's what Shelly was known for."

Rush and Vera exchanged looks. Shelly sounded like she had the perfect motive. She was the most popular girl in school that was losing the boy she liked to the new girl. She was just another jealous high school girl. But was she jealous enough to kill Grace?


	4. Making A Connection

**Author's note**

I apologize for the lack of updates. It's been months since I've had time to get back to this story, but I'm hoping to update a few more chapters very soon. Here's the most recent chapter, I hope you all enjoy it!!

-scribblesofdreams

* * *

Valens just arrived and sat down at his desk. There were several files on his desk that he just stared at. Everyday it seemed that there was a never ending pile of files that magically appeared. He pushed them aside and opened Grace Serano's case file again. Just as he was about to drink his coffee, Jeffries exited Stillman's office, calling Valens' name.

"What?" he called out to Jeffries. "I just got in. I haven't even had my first cup of coffee," he complained.

Jeffries laughed. "Well I guess you're gonna have to wait even longer." He approached Valens at his desk. "We're going to interview Shelly Linderman. Come on," he said, walking past Valens desk, motioning him to follow.

Miller looked over her shoulder and smirked. "You better go," she advised. "Doesn't look like he's slowing down."

Valens moaned, grabbing his jacket and cup of coffee. "Yeah, yeah, I'm going."

Miller laughed, watching Valens hurry to catch up with Jeffries in the elevator. She turned her head and looked over at Vera. He was on the phone, wrapping up a conversation with one of the police officers that handled the case back in 1988. After he hung up the phone Miller walked over to his desk, holding some files in her hand.

"So what'd you find out when you talked to this Andy Walker?" she asked.

Vera took a sip of water and looked up. "Well, he seemed pretty fond of her," he said. "Told a nice story about how she was the only original person he knew, one of a kind. Oh, and he owned this killer music store."

Miller nodded, interested in where the story was headed. "Music store? What kind of music store?"

"All kinds of music, all over the place." Vera gestured with his hands, making big motions to illustrate how big the store was. "Every genre you could think of. But you know what's funny? The store he owns is the store that Grace showed him back in '88. Yeah, he'd never even been there until he went with Grace. Ten years later, he buys the place," he finished.

"Wow." Miller dropped the files onto Vera's desk and crossed her arms. "Andy buys a store that Grace introduced him to? That place must have had some kind of significance to him that he would later buy it. And I bet it's tied to Grace, somehow."

Vera nodded. "It's possible."

* * *

Standing near the far side of the gymnastics room stood Shelly Linderman. She hadn't changed at all – she still wore the most fashionable work out clothes, her skin was flawless, and her blond hair still flowed down her back like a mermaid.

A hip hop song played on the stereo sitting near the mirror Shelly was dancing in front of. Shelly was nodding her head and snapping her fingers, keeping the beat of the song playing. Every few seconds she'd swing her arms and crouch down to the floor, then popped back up to do a turn.

Valens grinned. "And that is why I had a thing for cheerleaders," he joked to Jeffries.

Shelly saw the two men walking towards her in the mirror and moved to turn the music off. She fixed her hair then turned around and smiled.

"Usually I've always had to wait until after the games for guys to find me," she said slyly. "Being the head cheerleader for three years I was known among the boys at school."

Jeffries reached into his jacket pocket and showed her his badge. "But I figure you've never waited for guys like us before, or have you?"

Shelly saw the badge and caught her breath. "Sorry," she said. "I guess I really do seem like a cheerleader, huh?"

"Yeah, ya do," Valens agreed. "But we're not here to talk to you about that. We wanna talk to you about Grace Serano," he told her.

"Oh." Shelly's face turned to stone. No giddy smile or perky eyes. "I thought she was dead," she said coldly.

Jeffries nodded. "She is. We're investigating her murder. And your name came up." He pointed to Shelly, making her jump a bit.

"My name?" she asked, gesturing to herself. "What about me? I just went to school with her, that's all."

Valens crossed his arms. "You went to school with her, and you made sure she was welcomed at East Creek High, didn't you?" he asked, staring at Shelly.

"If I was a new student I'd make sure I found you to welcome me," Jeffries said sarcastically.

Shelly pressed her lips together and sighed heavily. "Look, I know I didn't make it easy for her when she first came to school. You could say that I was a bitch back that, I kinda had those tendencies," she admitted. Shelly latched onto a piece of her hair and started twirling it between her fingers.

Valens scoffed. "Ya don't say."

She turned her head and glared at Valens, only to receive the same, uncaring stare. "But I didn't do anything to her," she protested. "I didn't kill her if that's what you're thinking."

Jeffries opened his notebook and glanced over it. "Apparently you had a thing for Andy Walker back in the day," he began. "Thought you two were dating, a couple."

Shelly smiled. "Well, we were never anything serious. But everyone knew we were unofficially together," she explained.

"Unofficially together," Jeffries repeated. "Yeah, that's what all the kids said back in my day, too. The kids that never had boyfriends and girlfriends," he jeered.

"But then Grace showed up, Andy started paying her more attention and left you at the curb," Valens poked fun at her. "I bet that made you pretty mad. Your supposed boyfriend," he said, using air quotes, "was into the new girl. The girl that was different from everybody else."

Shifting her weight onto her right foot, Shelly let out a deep breath of exhaustion. "Yeah, you'd be pretty mad at Grace if you were me, too," she snapped at them.

"How mad?" Jeffries asked, looking at Shelly suspiciously.

She scoffed. "Not mad enough to kill her," she said with attitude. Shelly rested her hand on her hip and looked at the two detectives. "In comes a new girl during senior year, my year," she told them, raising her finger to her chest. "And she's totally weird, dressing completely different than the rest of us, listening to rock music. Then she humiliates me in front of the whole school on her first day, so then I lost respect from my classmates. And then she goes and steals Andy away from me. I mean, Andy I were supposed to go on a date and she totally snagged him from me that same night!"

Valens glanced over at Jeffries, then back to Shelly. "What do you mean Grace snagged him from you?"

"She was in the bathroom when I was telling my girlfriends about the date that Andy and I were supposed to go on," she told the detectives. "And that same night I saw Andy meet up with Grace. He ditched me to hang out with her," she said angrily, a vein in her forehead starting to show. "He ditched _me_."

"They went out on a date?" Jeffries asked, putting one hand in his pocket.

Shelly shrugged. "I don't know if you'd call it a date. All I know is that when Andy didn't show up to get me, I got suspicious. So I found out where he was going and followed him. He ended up meeting her at some weirdo music place across town."

Jeffries looked at Shelly questionably. "So you followed him?" That would be the only logical explanation as to why Shelly held all this information about what Andy and Grace were doing.

"I was mad, and I wanted to know what better plans he had than to go out with me," she told them. "I mean, I'm Shelly Linderman. Guys were all lining up to go out with me."

Valens smirked, laughing quietly to himself. "Except Andy."

She looked over at him and glared, her eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Except Andy."

* * *

_(Music: "The Power Of Love" - Huey Lewis and the News)_

_Shelly stayed idle in her car as she watched Andy walk slowly down a street with shops on both sides. The street lights were turning on just as the sun was going down. She kept a good distance from Andy and saw him walk into the Electric Music store. Shelly parked the car across the street and waited to see what happened. _

_The door closed and the rattling of the sign called Grace's attention. She was browsing through some Alice Cooper albums when she stopped to see who had just walked in. To her surprise, there stood Andy, searching the store for her. When he spotted her, a giant smile formed on his face. _

"_Hey," Andy called to her, walking slowly to the other side of the store. His Nike's made a shuffling sound against the tile as he walked._

_Grace looked at him curiously. "Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you had plans," she said, remembering how Shelly had been bragging about her date with Andy earlier that day at school. "I'm pretty sure coming all the way down here wasn't part of those plans."_

_Andy shrugged his shoulders, nodding in agreement. "Yeah, I did have plans. But I figured I could spend my time doing something more interesting."_

"_Really?" Grace took a few steps forward, away from the records. "Because I heard from a very reliable source that you had a date with Shelly Linderman tonight," she told him. _

"_Oh yeah, and who told you that?" he asked, crossing her arms across his chest. He sounded cocky, as if there was no way that Grace could have that kind of source to confirm that rumor._

"_Shelly." Grace watched as Andy laughed and nodded, dropping his arms to his side. "So you did have a date with her?"_

_He shook his head, waving his hand in front of his face, as if swatting a fly out of the way. "No it wasn't a date. It was more like a trap to have dinner with Shelly," he joked. _

_Grace laughed softly. "Well I'm pretty sure she thought it was a date. And I bet she's mad that you didn't show."_

"_Oh well," Andy said, shrugging it off. _

_Grace cocked her head to the side and looked at Andy. He was answering so nonchalantly that it surprised her, but in a good way. She crossed her arms and glanced over Andy up and down. _

"_So you're telling me that you bailed on Shelly Linderman, to go to a music store filled with music that you don't even listen to? Is that what you're saying?" she asked him. _

_Andy pressed his lips together, looking up at the posters on the wall. He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No," he began stepping closer to Grace. "I'm saying that I bailed on Shelly to spend the night in a music store filled with music you listen to, with you." He looked into Grace's brown eyes and smiled. _

_Knowing a sweet response when she heard one, Grace couldn't help but smile. She dropped her arms and looked at Andy. "Good answer."_

* * *

_(Music: "Nothing But A Good Time" - Poison)_

_Andy swung his arm over Grace's shoulder as she led him back to the section of records she was looking at. She started telling him about all the kinds of music that she listened to and her favorite artists. Whenever Andy would mention that he liked one of the bands Grace said, she'd drag him all over the store to look up some of their albums. _

_Grace, knowing the store manager, Rick, for what little time she had been in town and hanging out at his store, convinced him to let her play some music on the record player in the store. Smiling at the sound of a familiar Poison song filing the room, Grace grinned over at Andy. _

_With some struggle and much protest from Andy, he finally gave in to Grace and agreed to dance with her. He took off his jacket and tossed it onto the counter and shuffled over to where Grace was dancing. She was smiling, laughing even, keeping the beat as she tapped her feet to the music. _

_Grace's hair bounced up and down as she moved, her locks swinging all around her face. Whenever she'd turn, the skirt she was wearing would twirl along with her like a ballerina's tutu. There was a spark in her eyes, pure enjoyment of the moment at hand. _

_Andy stared at Grace, watching the joy inside of her explode as she danced. Unconsciously he let himself loose, and soon found himself feeling as free and relaxed as he ever had before._

* * *

Valens looked over at Shelly, shrugging his shoulders. "So Andy and Grace hung out at the music store," Valens clarified. "That doesn't sound so bad."

Shelly scoffed, shaking her head, her blond hair moving back and forth. "That's not the whole story."

Jeffries looked up from his notebook after he finished scribbling down a few words. "There's more?" he asked.

"Yeah, there sure is." Shelly crossed her arms, lifting her head up to tell more of her story. "After they were at the music store, Andy took her to dinner. Then they spent hours down by the creek, they just sat at this picnic table and talked," she told them, rolling her eyes. "And then he took her home."

* * *

"_So tell me about your brother, Josh, right?" Andy sat next to Grace on the top of the table, their feet resting on the bench of the picnic table. _

_Grace hunched over, her arms relaxed on her knees. She lifted her head to look out at the creek, watching the small current wash right by her. Andy turned his head and watched her. _

"_Josh is great," she started to say. "He's only fifteen but he's more mature than most kids his age. He plays the piano, which is why we moved here, so he could go to that Winston School for Music," she explained, smiling. "I know he's gonna go on to do a lot of great things playing that piano."_

_Andy listened to Grace's voice, she spoke so highly of him, like a proud older sister. "You and Josh close?" he asked. _

_She nodded. "Yeah, really close. After my dad died our family kinda turned around. In more ways than one." Grace propped her hand up and rested her chin on her fist. "It was hard adjusting to a life without my dad around, that's when I realized that life was short and that I wanted to do as much as I can in the time I had. I decided to be true to myself and enjoy life." _

_Grace paused, pressing her lips together. Andy could tell by the look in her eyes that she was unsettled about something. _

"_What is it?"_

_She turned towards Andy. "I wanted to be a good older sister for Josh. Not just being there for him, but also being a good influence and role model," Grace told him. "When he asked me why I went against the crowd I told him it was because I wanted to be my own person. I wasn't going to let someone influence me. I would have my own standards, my own morals I would stand by, and that I was going to be a person I wanted to be."_

"_And you are," he said softly, seeing the moonlight shine in her eyes. "You are."_

* * *

_(Music: "Hold On To The Night" - Richard Marx)_

_Once it started getting late Grace figured it was time that she headed home. Andy pulled up to Grace's house, with Shelly parked on the street three houses down. They had just spent a few hours down by the creek, talking about anything and everything. This was the first time that both Grace and Andy had just spent the night talking with a friend. It felt so good to smile and laugh with someone, without anyone criticizing or judging them._

"_Aren't you glad you ditched Shelly?" Grace joked. She and Andy slowly made their way up towards her front door. _

_Andy laughed softly. "Yeah, I am, actually. Tonight was really fun. I haven't just relaxed and felt this good with someone in a really long time."_

_They stepped up to her front door and turned to each other. Andy looked down to Grace, inspecting every inch of her smiling face. At the angle that Andy was standing, Grace could see something shinning around his neck, glittering from the glow of the street lights._

"_What's that?" she asked. _

_Andy looked down to follow her gaze. "Oh, it's just my medallion," he told her, tugging at the chain. He pulled the necklace out from under his shirt, sliding his hands down to a small pendant. "My dad gave it to me the night I played my first basketball game. It's a cardinal, it brings good luck."_

_The cardinal looked like it was flying, its wings spread wide open. Its head was tilted up, as if looking up into the sky as it flew freely. _

"_I kinda tell myself that it was luck that brought you here," Andy told her. "Without it I may have never met you."_

_Grace drifted her eyes from the necklace up to Andy's eyes. She shook her head. "No, I think we would've found each other eventually."_

_With a quiet laugh, Andy's lips curved into a smile. "I remember what you said that first time we met, down by the creek." Andy recalled the exact words in his head. "I said 'I guess I'll see you around' and you looked over at me gave me a wink and said, 'Maybe, if you're lucky.'" They both laughed. "I guess I was lucky."_

_Andy and Grace stood there, feeling a slight breeze brush by them. The earth had cooled and the flickering specks of light shined brightly against the dark blanket up in the sky. _

"_I had a really good time tonight. I actually always have a good time with you," Andy said softly, gazing down at Grace. _

_As the wind picked up, Grace's bangs blew in her face, covering her eyes. At the same time, both Andy and Grace reached up to brush her hair out of the way. Their fingers brushed up against each other and stayed there for several moments. _

"_Sorry," Andy apologized, smiling, slightly embarrassed. "I just wanted to see your eyes." Grace dropped her hand, letting Andy tuck her hair back behind her ear. _

_Grace lifted her eyes back up to Andy and saw him staring at her. She felt his hand clasp onto hers, their fingers lacing together. She looked down, feeling his hand squeeze hers. _

"_You remember when you were saying how you liked me, that day when we first went to Electric Music?" he asked, holding onto her hand tightly. _

_Playfully, Grace tilted her head back and forth, pretending that she couldn't recall that memory positively or not. "I might have that memory stored somewhere in my head."_

_He lifted the side of his mouth into a smile. "Well, when I asked you if you really did like me, you said maybe. But that maybe really meant yes, didn't it?" he asked, feeling confident. _

_Thinking of the only appropriate answer to his question, Grace looked up at Andy straight in the eye. "Maybe."_

_Andy looked down at her, his eyebrow raised. After a few beats, Grace could no longer hold it in and she cracked a smile, giving in to Andy and handing him the answer he had been waiting for. _

"_I thought so." He spoke softly, his voice as light as a feather. _

_Andy slowly lifted his hand up and caressed Grace's cheek. For what seemed like hours, they stared into each others eyes, never looking away. Soon enough they were breathing together, both chests rising and falling to the same calmed beat. In one slow motion, Andy leaned towards Grace, looking back and forth between her eyes and her lips. Grace willingly let herself be pulled into Andy, her breathing slightly increasing. At the same time, Andy and Grace closed their eyes and their lips touched. _

_In that moment time stood still and the world stopped. All the hate and violence in life had disappeared. Criticism and judgment vanished, because the only thing that was left alive was the emotion coming from Andy and Grace. _

_Grace and Andy broke the kiss, pausing for a moment, just to catch their breath and realize what they had just done. Biting her lip, with cheeks turning pink, Grace looked back up to Andy. _

"_Grace," he said softly, barely loud enough for her to hear. "I love you."_

_As if she hadn't already had the most amazing night of her life, Grace just heard the three words she had always dreamt of hearing from a boy she cared so dearly about. "Really?" She searched his eyes, hoping to see truth in them._

_Andy nodded, smiling at Grace. "Yes, really." His eyes were pure, as sincere as they had always been. _

"_Good," Grace finally got out. Uncontrollably her eyes started to water and she laughed quietly. "Because I love you too."_

_Feeling as if a weight had just been lifted off his shoulders, Andy smiled with joy. He slid his arms down around Grace's waist just as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her thumb sliding across the chain of his necklace. _

"_Good," Andy replied, leaning in to give Grace one more kiss._

* * *

Nodding, Valens crossed his arms over his chest. He smirked, looking at Shelly. "Now I get why you were so pissed," he said. "He ditched you on your date only to declare his love for Grace later that night."

Shelly glowered, not finding Valens' comment humorous at all. "Oh yeah, hysterical."

The two detectives shared a quiet chuckle, leaving Shelly glaring at them with her crystal blue eyes. Jeffries and Valens left the gymnasium, letting Shelly return to her mirror and dancing. They walked back out to the car to head back to the office.

"So Grace moves into town and steals the guy Shelly had been crushing on for years," Jeffries recapped, buckling into his seat.

Valens started the engine and slowly pulled out of the parking stall. Putting the car into drive he looked over at Jeffries. "Not only steals the guy, but falls in love with him and gets him to fall in love with her," he said. "Sounds like a good enough reason to want to get rid of Grace."


	5. Wanting What You Can't Have

**Author's note**

Thanks again to those that have read the chapters of my story thus far. I appreciate your time you spend reading through my story, and I hope that you're enjoying it. Hopefully I'll be able to update more in the next few months. Enjoy and please leave some feedback when you can!

-scribblesofdreams

* * *

Miller chewed her mouthful of salad, overlooking a sheet of notes taken back in 1988 about Grace Serano's murder case. She sat with one leg sticking out from the under the desk, her elbow on the table, holding a plastic fork in her hand. As the words of Andy Walker's statement registered in her head, Miller began to question Andy's honesty.

"So why didn't Andy tell us that he was Grace's boyfriend?" she asked out loud, turning to her team of detectives.

Each detective sat at his or her desk, drinking some coffee or making an attempt of enjoying whatever food they were having for lunch. Work had been hectic around the bureau and one didn't usually find time to stop and eat.

Rush looked up from her coffee and shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Maybe remembering that he and Grace were a couple is hard on him," she suggested. "Or he just doesn't like talking about it."

"No, that's not it." Vera shook his head, sitting up straight in his chair and removing his foot that had once been resting on his desk, dropping it to the floor. "When he was telling us about Grace, he wasn't necessarily happy, but more like nostalgic. In a good way. Like remembering the first concert you went to."

Jeffries smiled. "Earth, Wind, and Fire," he said aloud. His team turned to look at him, each with a grin. "What?" he asked defensively. "They had great music. Stuff that made you just wanna get up a dance." He did a little move in his seat, causing everyone to laugh.

The detectives returned to their separate research. It was hard to tell heads or tails with this case as the days went by. All the information they had received from police reports and interviews were helpful, but it wasn't getting them any closer to finding out who killed Grace.

Vera closed the file in his hand and tossed it onto his desk. "This is crazy," he said in a huff. Standing up, Vera walked over to Miller's desk, holding a ham and cheese sub sandwich in his hands. "We haven't gotten anywhere with this," he complained.

"Maybe we're just missing something," Miller said, putting the file down on her desk. "I mean, there has to be more."

Abruptly, Stillman opened his office door and walked toward his team, holding a black book in his hand. He had a hopeful grin on his face.

"I just got a call from Josh, Grace's brother," he started to explain. Slowly the detectives gathered around Miller's desk. "He told me that sometimes Grace would draw about things that were on her mind, stuff that she didn't want to talk about right away. I did some looking and found her sketchbook. It was in her bag that was left near her body."

Stillman's thumb was holding a place between two pages. He flipped open the book and turned it around to show his team.

"What is that?" Valens asked, looking over the drawing.

Jeffries tilted his head back and forth, squinting every so often to try and see the picture better. "It's just two kids," he said plainly, a bit disappointed. He thought there would be more to the artwork than that.

On the right sided page were two people, teenagers, one girl and one boy. The girl was dressed in a cheerleaders' uniform, perfectly proportioned as a Barbie doll. The boy wore a letterman's jacket with his hands crossed over his chest. Written on the left side of the drawing read "Sticks and stones..." in large, bold letters. On the ride side, near the bottom of the page read "Their words will never hurt me" in smaller letters.

There was one thing that confused all the detectives about the drawing: the people had no eyes. Over the two faces, where they eyes should have been drawn, was a black bar placed straight across their face.

"Looks like what they do in those interviews when people wanna be anonymous," Valens pointed out. He looked at his team to see them staring at him oddly. "What?"

"She didn't draw their eyes?" Vera asked, confused.

Rush shook her head, looking up at her boss and reaching for the sketchbook. Stillman nodded, handing the book over to Rush. "It's because she didn't want whoever would see this to know who these people were."

"But then why draw them in the first place?" Miller crossed her arms across her chest, just as confused as Vera. "The eyes are what distinguishes them in the first place."

"Exactly," Rush agreed, "but that wasn't her point." She touched the page, and still after all those years, some of the pencil lines smudged as she brushed her fingers across the drawing. "She drew this to show what kinds of people made fun of her. The jock and the cheerleader. But they just represent all of the other kids, too. Because all the other kids wanted to be like this jock and this cheerleader."

Stillman smiled, nodding his head, proud of Rush's conclusions. "Makes sense, Grace didn't seem like the kind of girl to hold grudges against these kids. But who was she portraying these drawings after?"

"Well it's obvious that the girl is Shelly," Miller said, gesturing to the sketch. "She was the main girl that tormented Grace and definitely had it out for her."

"Okay, but what about the guy?" Jeffries asked the group.

Valens picked up the file from his desk and returned to the huddle. Flipping through a few pages, he pulled a sheet of paper out and held it in his hands, quickly scanning the information written on it. "Says here that Grace had mentioned another jock at her school. Josh recalled Grace telling him about a Vance Keller."

"See if you can track down this Vance Keller," Stillman said, pointing to Vera. "In the mean time, get in touch with Josh and see if he can tell us anymore about this kid," he nodded toward Valens and Jeffries.

Vera nodded and hurried back to his desk. Valens and Jeffries gathered their things and headed to the elevators as Valens dialed a number on his phone.

"Vera," Stillman called. Vera jerked his head up from his desk and turned to Stillman. "After you're done, I want you to come with me down to the creek where Grace and Andy used to hang out."

Vera nodded. "Got it boss."

* * *

Jeffries pulled up to Josh's house, a few blocks from the house he lived in when he first moved to Philadelphia. Josh lived with his wife and two daughters, one eight years old, the other six. Josh showed the detectives into his living room, seating them on his couch while he sat adjacent to them on his chair.

Leaning forward onto his knee, Josh looked at Valens, hopeful for good news. "Did you guys find anything yet?" he asked eagerly.

Valens winced slightly. "We found some of Grace's belongings," he told him. "But we need more information. What can you tell us about Vance Keller."

Not hearing that name in years, Josh's eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair. "I haven't even thought about that name in so long," he said.

"Just try to tell us what you remember," Jeffries said, trying to sound as encouraging as he could.

Josh nodded, his eyes wandering around the room as he shifted through the memories in his head. After a few moments he turned to the detectives. "Okay, um, I remember Grace telling me something about Vance. He was an all-star athlete, played baseball, football, basically all of the sports at school. He was one of those guys that all the girls were dying to go out with, and he knew it."

Jeffries quickly took his pen to his notebook as Josh spoke, looking back and forth between the page and Josh.

"He sometimes took advantage of the girls," Josh continued, "saying that he was entitled to them or something. A real jackass if you ask me," he said, a bitter tone to his voice.

"Take advantage?" Valens repeated. "You mean..."

"He wanted to take their virginity," he said bluntly.

Jeffries and Valens exchanged looks, creating an idea of the kind of guy Vance was in those days.

Jerking his head back to the detectives, Josh thought of another thing Grace had mentioned to him. "Oh, there was something else Grace said about him," he brought up. "He said something to her, a racial comment one day, about her being Mexican."

Both detectives narrowed their eyes, not liking the sound of what Josh was getting at. Valens pressed his lips together, his eyes starting to flare. "You mean he was racist?"

Josh shrugged, looking straight at Valens. "Maybe. I mean, have you ever been called a spic in a good way?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Valens let out a deep breath, his fists clenched tightly. All three men in the room exchanged looks, understanding each other's concern and feelings about discrimination. They had all been in those positions where others discriminated against them, and they understood the impact of just one, ignorant person.

* * *

Rush and Miller met Vance outside a local deli, they caught him on his lunch break. After seeing their badges, Vance eventually agreed to take a walk to a nearby park to discuss the matter of Grace Serano.

It was a bright day, with white, fluffy clouds bunched up against the sky. There was a steady breeze rustling the leaves on the trees in the park. Many people took their lunch break in the park, along with families out for the day, enjoying their summer.

"So, twenty years after she dies and you guys are going around asking questions about her?" Vance asked, sitting himself down on a park bench.

Both detectives glanced at each other for a brief moment. "You remember her anniversary?" Rush asked him, watching the man sitting on the bench take a bite of his sandwich.

"Sure I do," he said while chewing his food. "A kid in your class dies during your senior year? Hell yeah, you'd remember it."

"But she wasn't just any kid," Miller began. She stuck her hands in her pants pockets. "Grace was the new girl that not only didn't fit in with the popular kids, but didn't _want_ to fit in with them. With you."

Vance rolled his eyes, swallowing. "Yeah, and that got her in a lot of trouble at school. Not just with me but with other kids too. Kids can be cruel," he told them. "Don't you know that?"

Annoyed with Vance's attitude and frustrated with his behavior, Rush crossed her arms and stared down at him. "Except you had it out for her, more than the other kids."

Stopping mid bite, Vance looked up at the two women standing in front of him. Rush's tone of voice had changed, and he knew what she was getting at. "What? You think I killed her?"

"Why not?" Rush asked, shrugging her shoulders. "New girl in school that isn't cooperating with the other mindless teenagers that worshiped you and your friends. Not only does she care less that you're the King of the Land, but she's not the same as you."

Drawing a blank as to what Rush meant, Vance looked back between the two detectives. "What? That she was a chick and not a guy?"

"She wasn't white," Miller said sternly, glaring down at Vance. "And usually to a racist, Grace being Mexican would mean something."

All of a sudden Vance burst into a loud roar of laughter, hunching over his knees. The sound was so loud that other people walking past them turned to stare. "Oh man," Vance finally said in between gasps of air. "That's a good one, you two think I'm a racist." Vance wiped the tears from his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt and eased his laughter to a stop.

"So you're saying you didn't call Grace some derogatory name related to her ethnicity?" Rush asked.

"Look, Grace being the only Mexican at school, it kinda made her the target for jokes like that. And I only called her that name once," he admitted, lifting his pointer finger at them. "But after a while, she grew on me." He grinned like a fool, leaning back on the bench.

Miller and Rush looked at him, his whole attitude had changed in an instant. The way he said "she grew on me" sounded as if he had some kind of attraction to Grace.

"Meaning what?" Miller asked.

Sighing heavily, irritated that he had to explain himself, he looked up at Miller. "Meaning I kinda had a thing for her." With a pause and two confused stares from Rush and Miller, Vance rolled his eyes and scoffed loudly. "She was hot! To be honest, she was hotter than most of the girls at school and everyone knew it. But she wasn't into me, oh well, her loss." Vance shrugged as if knowing Grace had no attraction to him didn't hurt his ego, even though it did. He looked at his sandwich and began to take a bite.

In one swift motion, Miller snatched his sandwich from his hand, leaving his jaw hanging open. "And?"

Vance looked up at the two women, completely aggravated that they were wasting away his lunch break. He nodded his head, realizing they weren't going to go away unless he told them what they wanted to know.

"Look," he began, sitting up straight, "Grace made it really clear that she wasn't interested in me, okay? You could say it was my least proudest moment at school." He snickered, narrowing his eyes. "She made it clear to the whole school."

* * *

_(Music: "Bad Medicine" - Bon Jovi)_

_Leaning on the locker next to Grace's was Vance, waiting for her to make her routinely visit in between classes. Propped up against the locker, he ran his fingers through his short brown hair and watched the students pass by. Like usual, the hallway was always crowded in between periods, an ocean of students. _

_Vance spotted Grace heading his way. He pulled at the collar of his jacket and put on his best seductive smile as she approached him. _

"_Hey, Grace," he said, trying to sound as close to James Dean as possible. He stuck his hands in his pockets._

_Without looking at him, Grace opened her locker and started switching textbooks and folders in and out of her locker to her bag. "What do you want, Vance?" she asked, uninterested in his presence. _

"_Oh, come on," he whined playfully. "Why do you have to be that way?"_

"_You mean completely unattracted to your pathetic attempt of getting my attention just so you can try to brainwash me into going out with you, and possibly sleeping with you at the end of the night?" Grace closed her locker and stared straight at Vance. "I don't have to be that way, it just happens naturally," she told him, smiling. _

"_Hey!" he said loudly, pushing off of the locker, standing up straight. "Most girls would dream about getting that kind of offer from me," he informed her. _

_Grace let out a deep breath, wiping her forehead as if relieved. "Good thing I'm not most girls."_

_Vance laughed her comment off, propping his arm up on the locker. He leaned forward, looking at Grace with a sweet smile. "Okay, how about I forget about this little disagreement, all right? I don't want to fight with you all day." Vance's eyes wandered up and down her body. "I'd rather picture what's under your clothes instead," he said, raising his hand to stroke her cheek. _

_The feeling of his fingers on her face burned her skin. "Cut it out," Grace snapped, slapping his hand away. _

"_Oh, come on," he smiled coyly. "You know you can't resist me."_

"_Actually I can," she told him. Grace pushed her hands against Vance's shoulders, sending him stumbling back a few steps. _

_A crowd of students standing near Vance and Grace stopped dead in their tracks and turned to look at the two seniors. A small half-circle formed around the two as Vance caught his balance and stood up straight. _

_Vance looked at Grace, grinning, and laughing quietly to himself. "Oh, you're gonna regret doing that," he warned. _

_In a few steps, Vance moved toward Grace, grabbing a hold of her arm and gripping it tightly. She cringed, letting out a cry of pain, feeling his fingers tighten around her skin. Just as Vance was about to pull Grace towards him, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Andy forcing his way towards them. _

"_Hey!" Andy practically yelled, shoving Vance back, causing him to fall to the floor. _

_With a gasp of the audience watching and a thud on the ground, Vance was lying on his back, making a handful of students jump back. Confirming that Vance was down, Andy watched him for a few seconds until turning around to Grace. _

_She latched her arms around him as he pulled her into a tight hug. Andy was breathing heavily, Grace could feel his chest rising and falling. She squeezed her eyes shut, holding onto Andy. _

"_Are you okay?" he asked in her ear, his breathing slowly calming down. He pulled away from Grace to look her in the eyes. "Are you all right?"_

_Grace nodded, taking in a deep breath. "Yeah, I'm okay. He started touching my face and then he grabbed my arm," she told him, holding onto her arm with her opposite hand. "He gripped it pretty good, but I'll be fine."_

"_Are you sure?" Andy held her arm in his hands, examining the slight damage Vance had done to her. When she didn't answer, he looked back up. "Grace?" He put his hands on both sides of her face, locking their eyes together. She eventually nodded slowly. _

_Vance groaned, helping himself up to his feet. Andy turned around, blocking Grace from Vance. Slowly, Vance stepped towards Andy, glaring straight into his eyes. _

_Vance scoffed, chuckling at Andy. "So now you're here protector or something?" he asked. "Classic."_

"_Just get lost, Vance," Andy told him. He stared back at Vance, clearly unintimidated by the bully standing before him. _

"_Eat my shorts, Walker," Vance shot at Andy._

_Andy glared at Vance. No one said a word, everyone was waiting to see what would happen next between the two._

_Shaking his head, Vance grinned, taking a few steps backwards. "This isn't over. You can bet on it. You're gonna regret this." He took one last look at Andy, then to Grace, and turned to push his way through the crowd. _

"_Come on," Andy said, turning to face Grace. He put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close to him. "Let's go."_

* * *

"I just wanted to get with her, but she wasn't interested. And everyone knew," Vance told them. "I know I wasn't exactly the golden child back then, but I had an attitude. And I thought very highly of myself."

Miller laughed, smiling down at Vance. "Really? I couldn't tell," she said sarcastically.

"If that's all you two wanted to talk to me about, I'd really like to finish my lunch and get back to work." Vance stood up and grabbed his sandwich out of Miller's hand. "Have a good day, ladies," he said, giving them a fake smile. He stepped around them and walked out of the park.

Rush and Miller watched Vance march away from them, biting from his sandwich every few steps. With a laugh, Miller sat down on the bench, and eventually Rush sat down beside her.

"Could you believe that guy?" Miller asked, laughing and shaking her head. "He's unbelievable."

"Well he sure is full of himself," Rush added. "And it sounded like he made a big scene that day in front of a bunch of kids at school. I'm sure word got around to everyone about what happened."

Miller nodded, staring out across the lawn. A family was having a picnic together under a tree. "He gets turned down by the girl. Her boyfriend humiliates him in front of the kids at school. Sounds like it could've made him angry enough to seek revenge."

"Sure does," Rush agreed.

* * *

Vera and Stillman climbed over the overgrown weeds and grass down by the Neshaminy Creek. After hearing so much about the spot by the creek, Stillman wanted to see Grace's escape spot for himself. The area hadn't been cleared out in months, with weeds as tall as sixth graders.

Stillman turned around to Vera and grinned. "I hope you're good at yard work," he joked, then headed on down the path.

Finding himself in a small opening of the weeds, Stillman removed his jacket and began rolling up his sleeves. Groaning behind him, Vera followed Stillman's lead and prepared himself to do some physical labor.

"This is a new shirt," Vera complained. He had just bought the light blue collared shirt he was wearing. He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up. Stillman laughed, then reached out for the nearest handful of weeds.

After almost forty minutes of pulling weeds and sweating buckets, Vera and Stillman had cleared out a lot of the area near the banks of the creek. Sitting in the middle of the area was the picnic table that Grace and Andy had spent much of their time at.

The paint had faded greatly, the wood barely showing any hint of its once dark green color. Parts of the table had been chipped off, and cracks and slits destroyed the bench seats.

"So this is where the two love birds spent all their time." Vera breathed heavily, his hands resting on his hips. "I'm guessing it was nicer back then, because right now, this place doesn't look all that romantic to me."

Stillman laughed, wiping his forehead with his arm. There were streaks of dirt and grass stains running down his pants and on the chest of his shirt. "It's peaceful down here. It's away from all the hustle and bustle of the town. I can see why the two of them came down here so often."

Taking in a breath of air, Stillman looked up the creek, watching the water flow its way down. The current was steady, streaming down on its path. He could hear the sound of the water brushing up against the bank, and somehow the sound seemed to sooth him.

Stillman's eyes wandered from where he saw the creek begin and slowly drifted its way down. Looking across the way at the other side of the creek, Stillman squinted his eyes, noticing something familiar about the location. With a possibility of what was on the other side brewing in his head, Stillman started walking toward the bank, staring at the land across the creek.

"Boss?" Vera called out to him. He watched as to where Stillman was going and called out to him again, but got no response.

Staring long enough across the creek gave Stillman his answer and confirmed what he was thinking in his head.

"That's where her body was found," Stillman said softly, not turning to face Vera. "Over there, across the creek. That's where the killer dumped her." He pointed out to the patch of grass near the banks on the other side of the water.

Vera followed the boss's hand to find the spot he was looking at. "Ah man," he said dishearteningly. Vera wiped his hand down his face and shook his head.

"She was left right across the creek from where she found it to be the most peaceful in this town." Stillman was still staring at the nothingness across the creek, disgusted with the thought of how cruel people could be.

Vera looked down to the table when something caught his eye. He moved toward the edge of the wooden picnic table and began wiping away the dirt. "Hey boss, take a look at this."

Stillman turned to walk back toward Vera and saw what he had uncovered. There on the table, carved into the wood read "A. W. + G. S." placed inside of a heart. The carving of the letters were deep, it was meant to last.

"We need to find who did this," Stillman told Vera. He looked down at the carving and ran his hand over the grooves in the wood. "For the both of them."


	6. Only One

**Author's note**

H everyone! I'm so sorry I've neglected updating my story. For some bizarre reason I thought I had finished posting the remaining chapters, when in fact, I hadn't. I apologize for the wait, but here are the remaining chapters. Hopefully you're all enjoying the read, and I hope to hear some feedback of what you think about it! Comments are much appreciated! :)

-scribblesofdreams

* * *

It was well into the night and the team of detectives were still hard at work at their office. After Stillman and Vera made their trip to Grace and Andy's spot down by the creek, Stillman urged his team to start putting together some answers about this case.

Stillman diligently worked alone in his office, his team of detectives sitting at their own desks. As the night went on, Vera began to wonder why Stillman seemed so passionate about this case. It was best for the detectives not to get emotionally involved with any of the cases they worked on, but the boss was acting differently toward this particular case.

"Anyone know why the boss is stressing out over this?" Vera asked. He looked up from his desk to see Stillman sitting in his office. He rested both hands on top of his head, staring down at the mess of papers in front of him. "He got pretty emotional when we went down to the creek," Vera told them.

Jeffries slid himself over in his chair. "This case is like another one that the boss has worked on before in the past," he said. "One that wasn't closed."

Miller turned around to look at her team. "Two young kids fell in love, then the boy was murdered. There was a handful of suspects with motives and means for killing the boy, but no one could prove anything on them," she explained.

"I guess the boss just wants to make sure that the killer is caught." Rush stepped over to Miller's desk, joining in on the discussion. She rested her hand on Miller's desk. "He wants there to be justice for these people."

Valens, sitting at his desk with his jacket off and his sleeves rolled up, nodded his head. "All right then. Let's solve this murder case."

* * *

After an hour or so, Jeffries started looking through Grace's sketchbook that was found near her body. It was a black, canvas, hardcover sketchbook. Engraved on the cover were letters spelling out "create" in a bold, silver color. The corners and spine were a bit worn out, some of the black canvas faded and torn.

Jeffries took his time with each drawing. There were dozens of sketches done by Grace, some in pen, but most in pencil. While looking at the drawings, Jeffries noticed the shadowing done, as well the intricate details that were put into some of the artwork. In one drawing of a boy playing the piano, located near the middle of the book, the boy sat at the piano in a small room with the window opened. Streaks of lead were used to show the light shinning in from the window, creating a nice glow of the piano and a dark shadow on the boy. On the back Grace had written the title of the piece, as well as signing her name and dating it.

Smiling, Jeffries read the caption out loud. "Pure Magic," he said, chuckling to himself. He figured the boy in the drawing was Josh, doing what he loved the most.

One of the last sketches drawn near the end of the book caught Jeffries' eye. Grace had drawn herself, looking into a rectangular mirror hanging on a wall. Standing in back of her was Andy, his caring smile captured by the soft pencil lines. His hands were reaching up behind her neck, fastening on a necklace. Grace touched the pendant at the end of the chain, smiling at Andy through the mirror. Written in the right hand corner on the page in cursive was "Happy at last."

"Hey, take a look at this." Jeffries stood up from his seat and walked over to stand in between the rows of desks. "I just found this in Grace's sketchbook."

Miller stood up and took a look at the drawing. She put her hands on her hips, staring at the page. "It's Grace. And Andy."

"He's putting a necklace on her," Valens said as the rest of the team huddled around them.

"He might have bought it for her," Vera suggested. "Or maybe it's his. Maybe it's his way of pinning her, like how they used to do in the fifties. Andy might have been the old school kind of guy."

Rush nodded, agreeing to Vera's comments. "Josh had said that Grace often drew things that was on her mind, things that she didn't always talk about, or at least not at first. Maybe there's some meaning behind this drawing," she said, looking around at the other detectives.

"We should check this out in the morning," Jeffries suggested. "I'll let the boss know about it." Jeffries placed his finger in between the pages and headed over to Stillman's office.

Miller stood with her arms crossed. "So first Andy doesn't tell us that he was Grace's boyfriend, something that I highly doubt slipped his mind," she said. "And then he gave her some kind of...promise necklace? Maybe he didn't tell us this information for a reason," she said, somewhat accusingly.

* * *

Valens and Miller got a hold of Andy's address and drove to his house first thing in the morning. Happy to find Andy's car still in the driveway, Valens pulled up to the curb. Opening the door and seeing Andy's car in front of him, Valens grinned and began walking up towards the front door. Miller rang the bell as Valens straightened the red tie just below his neck.

The door opened with Andy on the other side. Caught slightly off guard, Andy hesitated a smile. "Uh, good morning, detectives," he greeted them. "More questions about Grace?"

"Can we come in?" Valens asked, jerking his head towards the house. Andy nodded and let the two detectives in, showing them to his kitchen.

Andy got both Miller and Valens a cup of coffee, as well as one for himself. The two detectives took a seat at the kitchen table, taking a look around the room at the same time. Andy's kitchen was small but tidy, with most appliances neat and clean, sitting on the counter. Posted on the refrigerator door was a collaboration of pictures of friends and family, recipes, reminders, and about a dozen different magnets.

"You've got a nice place here," Miller complimented him.

"Thanks," Andy replied, walking over with their coffee in his hand. He hustled back to get his cup and returned to sit with them at the table. "It's small, but just the right size for me."

"You don't live with anyone else?" Valens asked, slipping his fingers through the handle on the mug and lifting it to his mouth.

Andy shook his head and sighed. "No, no one. Been a bachelor since high school. It's just me here." He sounded disappointed.

"Never got married?" Miller asked. "No kids?" She took a sip of her coffee and placed it back down on the table.

"No. The only woman I ever let into my life was Grace," he told them, looking up. "The only one. And, well, obviously that didn't last," he said, holding onto his coffee mug with both hands.

Miller looked over at Valens and received a nod. She began flipping through the pages of Grace's sketchbook she had brought in with her. "We found this drawing of Grace's last night, and we were wondering if you could tell us more about it."

She found the page and turned the book around, pushing it closer to Andy. Slowly his eyes lifted and landed on the drawing. In just one quick moment a wave of memories returned to Andy. He smiled, giddy, and took the sketchbook into his hands.

"Wow," he said softly, his eyes gazing at the sketch. "I haven't seen this since Grace showed me that one time."

"Looks like you were giving her a necklace," Valens pointed out, gesturing with his hand.

Andy nodded, still looking at the page. "My dad gave it to me, as a good luck charm. And then I gave it to Grace," he explained to them. His eyes were drawn to the page, unable to look at anything else. Without warning his eyes started tearing up.

The detectives exchanged looks, Miller particularly more skeptical than Valens. She crossed her arms, looking across the table at Andy. "So, are those tears of good memories, or of regret?" she asked, her voice flat.

"What?" Andy lifted his, looking at Valens and Miller utterly confused. "What do you mean?"

"First you don't tell us that you were dating Grace, which is kind of important, you'd think. Ten years later you buy the music store she took you to. Then we find this drawing," Valens said, pointing down to the sketchbook. "And it seems to me that Grace really did care about you. I mean, what exactly were you doing?" he asked, leaning forward against the kitchen table. "Getting closer to her, earning her trust, just to take her out in the end?" Valens glared at Andy with no mercy in his eyes.

Shocked at the accusation just thrown at him, Andy stared at Valens, completely speechless. Andy got up from his seat, causing Valens to brace himself in case Andy was going to make a run for it. Andy shook his head, walking over to the sink, away from the table.

"No, no, you guys have got it all wrong," he started to protest.

"Really? Do we?" Miller asked. "Because to us, it seems like you haven't been telling us a lot of information that we could've used," she said, raising her voice.

Andy continued to shake his head, his back towards the detectives. He started breathing faster, and the tears slowly fell down his cheeks. "No, you really got it wrong," he tried telling them.

"Then why don't you start telling us the truth, Andy." Valens said sternly, looking across the kitchen to where Andy stood.

Miller stared at Andy's back. He stood, with his hands gripping the counter he was leaning on. His shoulders dropped as he let out a deep breath. The wrinkles in his shirt reformed as his breathing slowed down.

"We were each other's first," Andy said, his back still facing the detectives, his head lowered. Slowly he turned around and leaned against the counter. Looking up, his eyes a pale shade of red, he sighed heavily. "We were in love. It was the real thing, what most people don't find anymore."

Changing expressions every second, Valens finally cocked his head to the side, confused. "You mean to say, you and Grace, were having sex?" he asked rather bluntly.

Andy nodded, moving slowly back towards the kitchen table. "I gave her my necklace the morning after we slept together for the first time," he told them, gesturing to the drawing on the table.

Miller shifted in her chair, looking intently at Andy. She pulled at her shirt, straightening it slightly and sat up straight. She waited to hear more of his story, realizing that there was always more about Grace that Andy could share with them.

"Sex was a big thing to Grace, to me too," he told them. "I wasn't one of those guys that only wanted sex from a girl; I wasn't like Vance," he snickered. "No, it meant a lot to us. Grace told me that she could only sleep with someone she loved. That it was the most loving thing you could share with a person."

* * *

_Andy's parents were away for the weekend, visiting relatives in New York, leaving him alone by himself. Hearing the news, his friends made a weak attempt to throw a party at his house, but Andy refused to let their plans follow through. Instead he invited Grace over for dinner, courtesy of Chef Andy, and a night of movies._

"_You know you're really exceeding my expectations," Grace smiled, following Andy into the kitchen, carrying two cups in her hands, one half full of milk, the other completely empty. "I honestly just thought we were gonna order pizza or something," she laughed._

_Andy smiled, shaking his head. "Which is why I actually made dinner myself." He put the dishes in the sink and took the cups from Grace, then began to wash them. "I mean, I made a pretty sweet fettuccine alfredo, right?" he asked her, looking to the side._

"_Yes," she agreed, laughing. "You made a wonderful alfredo. And the idea of having milk and cookies for dessert was great, very classic. Plus, picking Pretty In Pink to watch was an excellent choice." Grace lifted herself up to sit on the counter and watched Andy. "Andrew McCarthy, the normal preppy guy from school meets the quirky but lovable Molly Ringwald and they fall in love. Why wouldn't I love that storyline?" she smiled. _

_Andy turned off the faucet and wiped his hands on a towel. He walked over and stood in front of Grace, his hands on the counter around her. "For some reason those two reminded me of a couple people I know," he grinned, leaning towards Grace. "But I can't put my finger on who those people are." Andy and Grace smiled at each other, easing into a kiss._

_Grace playfully flopped her arms onto Andy's shoulder as he slipped his hands around her waist. They leaned closer to each other, their foreheads touching, and just looked into each others eyes. _

_All of a sudden Andy pulled away from Grace, grinning. "Actually, I think I have a picture of one of those people," he told her. "You wanna see it?"_

_Playing along with his game, Grace nodded. "Of course!"_

_Andy helped Grace off the counter and took hold of her hand. He led her back out towards the living room then up the stairs. Andy's room was the second door on the left, with a poster of the Philadelphia 76ers team on his door. _

_Chuckling, Grace walked over to Andy's bed. The covers were messy, bunched up near the foot of the bed. "You should seriously consider having someone make your bed for you, because you obviously don't know how to do it," she teased. _

"_Oh, I know," Andy replied. "But my mom refuses to take the job. I'm kinda disappointed in her," he joked back. _

_Grace bounced onto his bed as Andy started rummaging through his things stacked on his desk. She watched him quickly go through a folder he pulled from his backpack, then he moved on to looking in a textbook he placed on his dresser. Not finding what he was looking for, he walked over and sat down on his bed next to Grace. _

"_Couldn't find it?" she asked, smiling, knowing that there really wasn't a picture he was looking for. _

_Andy shrugged. "Yeah, I can't find it." He leaned forward and looked past Grace to his nightstand. "Oh wait, there it is." He reached over her, grabbing a picture frame off of his small, wooden nightstand. "This is who I was talking about."_

_Handing over the frame to Grace, Andy watched the expression on her face change. The picture in the frame was of Grace, smiling brightly straight at the camera. She wore a red shirt with the words "Be Free" on it, the neckline cut wider than it originally was. She had several necklaces around her neck, and purple lightning bolts dangling from her ears. Her wavy hair was down, some of it falling to the sides of her face. Grace's smile was wide, full of life and character. _

_After staring at her own photo for a minute or so, Grace turned to Andy and replicated the same smile in the photograph. _

"_I look into those brown eyes every morning when I wake up," he told her. "But that picture doesn't come close to looking into the real things every time I see you."_

_Grace put the photo back on Andy's nightstand and looked back to him. "I could say the same thing about those green gems you've got there, too," she told him. "And every time I look into them I feel like I'm melting."_

_(Music: "Open Arms" - Journey)_

_They sat there, just being near each other for what seemed like hours. Andy moved closer and Grace leaned into him, feeling her lips touch his. Andy reached up and touched her cheek, her soft skin against the palm of his hand. Their kisses quickened, with less time in between each to take in a breath of air. Grace lifted her hands up to the sides Andy's face, moving it to the back of his neck and through his hair._

_Slowly, Andy put his hand down on the bed, putting all his weight onto it. He began moving, pushing off of the bed, until he was almost directly over Grace. She felt Andy's body move so she moved with him, lowering herself down until her back was flat against the bed. _

_Andy slid his hand down from her cheek to her neck, pressing his lips slightly harder against Grace's. Suddenly, Grace began smiling and pulled away from Andy. She opened her eyes and looked at him. Andy stopped moving and stared down at Grace._

"_I've never done this before," she said quietly, looking up into his eyes. Her breathing was fast and she tried her hardest to calm down. She smiled, a bit embarrassed for stopping._

_Andy lifted the side of his lips into a smile. "I've never done this before either," he admitted. He watched her eyes, and without looking down at her lips, Andy knew Grace was smiling. "You know," he took in a deep breath, "we don't have to do this if you don't want to. I can wait, until you're ready."_

_Andy kept his eyes locked with Grace's, never letting her out of his sight. They stayed there, neither one of them moving an inch. With only silence between them, Andy figured that Grace wanted to stop, and that her answer, although unsaid, was that she wanted to wait. He began moving, shifting his weight, rolling over Grace._

"_No."_

_Andy turned back to look at Grace. Her hand extended to his face, caressing it with her palm. She smiled, looking straight up at him. _

"_I'm ready," she said softly, barely making a sound. _

_Andy waited a beat before smiling, then lowered himself back down and kissed Grace's lips. Their lips barely separated, feeling the warmth and the heat from each other. Grace reached down and held onto the bottom of Andy's shirt. Slowly she lifted it up over his torso, until he grabbed it with his hands and pulled it over his shoulders and head, tossing it to the floor. _

_Grace felt Andy tug at her tank top. The fabric moved up her body, bunching up occasionally, causing her to lift herself up as Andy pulled it off. As the last strands of her hair passed through the tank top, and Andy let it go, Grace could feel the coolness of the sheets on her skin, sending a slight shiver down her back. _

_Looking up at Andy, Grace felt embarrassed to have him see her with her shirt off for the first time. She gazed at him then closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. As she opened her eyes, she grinned playfully and latched her fingers into the top of Andy's jean, and slowly pulled him down. _

_Moving his lips from hers, Andy kissed his way down her cheek and to her neck. With her eyes closed, Grace breathed in deep, feeling Andy's lips on her neck. As she opened her eyes she looked out the window, seeing the glittering stars fill the sky. Grace moved her hand, stroking the back of Andy's neck, slowly moving it down his back. His fingers moved to her shoulder and slowly pushed the strap of her bra down her arm, his lips following his fingers. Grace felt the strap dangling near her elbow, so she maneuvered her arm out of it. Soon their breathing was in sync._

_Andy pressed down hard on Grace's lips. He opened his eyes and breathed in deep. Grace slowly opened her eyes and stared up at Andy. _

_Brushing hair out of Grace's face, Andy showed a small smile. "I love you Grace" he whispered to her._

"_And I love you, Andy," she replied softly. "With all my heart."_

"_Always...and forever." Andy kissed Grace slowly and softly, their lips melting together. His fingers glided up her arm until it reached her hand. He slid his hand further a little more until their fingers fell into each other._

* * *

_The sky stayed pitch black the entire night and early morning, just until a sliver of light began to light the darkness. Andy lay in bed, one hand stuffed under his pillow, the other around Grace's shoulder. Once the sun started to shine through the window, Andy's eyes opened, blinking several times. _

_(Music: "The Promise" - When In Rome)_

_Turning his head slowly, he looked down to Grace. She lay there, resting her head on his chest, breathing with him. Her arm was stretched across Andy's body, her hair tucked underneath the covers. For a few hours, Andy just stayed there, watching Grace's body rise and fall, listening to her breathe._

_Eventually Grace began shifting, opening her eyes. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Looking up she saw Andy's green eyes staring down at her, smiling, like he always did. _

"_Hi," he whispered, moving the hand out from under the pillow and rubbing Grace's arm. _

_She smiled. "Hi." _

_The two young lovers lay in bed together for a few minutes, holding each other. Eventually Andy sat himself up, exposing his bare chest from under the covers. Grace saw the necklace with the cardinal pendant resting on his collar bone. _

"_How about I go and make us some breakfast?" Andy asked, looking over at Grace. _

_She chuckled softly, lifting her lips into a smile. "You made us dinner last night," she said. "And now you wanna make breakfast?"_

_Andy nodded, touching the side of her cheek. "Yeah. I'd do pretty much anything for you," he told her. "I'll go down and start breakfast, and you can wash up, okay?"_

_Grace smiled and nodded. She watched him get out of bed, throw on his basketball shorts, and head down to the kitchen. She rolled over onto her side, holding the blanket covering her body. She closed her eyes and breathed in deep. _

* * *

_Just like the night before, Andy prepared a wonderful meal, this time, waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. Grace helped cut some fruit and toasted one bagel for them to share._

_They spent breakfast tossing strawberries into each other's mouth, and wiping whipped cream on each other's face. Occasionally, they took breaks to eat some food._

"_I better get back home," Grace said, hoping down from the stool she was sitting on. "My mom's probably calling the National Guard by now," she teased. _

"_Do you want me to drive you home?" he offered, but she shook her head. _

"_No, I'd rather walk. And it's not too far," she told him. "Besides, it'll give me time to think of what I'm going to tell my mom once I get home."_

_Andy nodded, getting to his feet. "Okay." He followed Grace out to his front door, holding her hand as they walked. Before she could open the door to leave, Andy stopped her. "Wait, I want to give you something."_

_Grace turned around to Andy and watched him unclasp the necklace he was wearing. The gold chain and pendant fell nicely down from his slightly tanned, bare chest. _

_Shaking her head, Grace looked up to Andy. "No, Andy I can't. That's your good luck charm," she told him. _

"_Well now it's yours," he said. He nodded his head towards the mirror on the wall and Grace turned to face it. She watched through the mirror as Andy looped the necklace around her neck. She raised her hand and touched the cardinal, feeling every groove and indentation._

_Looking at Grace through the mirror, Andy smiled. "Besides, _you're_ my good luck charm now. I love you, Grace."_

_Grace turned back around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you. With all my heart," she said softly._

_Andy pulled her into a hug and held on tightly. "Always and forever," he whispered, squeezing her in his arms. _

* * *

Andy now sat in the chair, across the table from Miller and Valens, covering his mouth with his hand and staring at the top of the table. His eyes were a pale shade of red, the skin around it slightly puffed.

"She was the only girl I ever loved," he finally said, his voice a bit shaky. "There hasn't been any other girl like that in my life. And I don't think there ever will be," he told them, raising his head.

Miller looked at Andy sympathetically, not expecting to hear that story when she arrived at his house. Tears were on the verge of spilling down her cheeks. Andy was completely in love with her, there was no doubt about it.

Before they left, Valens promised Andy that no matter what, they would find whoever killed Grace. He was sorry, for Andy. Knowing that he had loved someone so much to have her taken away was something that Valens thought was unfair to Andy. Neither Andy nor Grace had done anything wrong, but for some reason, they were being punished.


End file.
